Reaction: Winnipeg Jets sign Ville Heinola to a two-year contract extension
[Music] all right let’s bring in Mike McIntyre from the winipeg fre press for his weekly visit let’s get right into it with the handle signing um you know he was in RFA um you know did not play almost at all in the NHL last year we knew about the injury two years 800 Grand I mean it seems like listen if he can come in and fulfill his potential in the Jet Blue Line um that that is going to be a perfect example of one of the contracts you really need to have right now in the National Hockey League and get the most out of players on ELC or quote unquote under team control and uh I mean listen uh there’s there’s no other option right now um Billy hanel is going to get a run as a Winnipeg jet this year and that was just about coming out and proving that he can fulfill his potential in The Bigs yeah he he absolutely is getting a run as a jet because again I think most people recognize this that villy Hano will have to go on waivers uh this fall if the Jets were to try to send him to the Mana toam moose and a guy with his talent with his pedigree who’s making $25,000 above the league minimum which is what his contract is um you know we’ve already seen in this market uh saw Jonathan kevich get claimed on waivers by the Montreal Canadians we saw Declan Chisum get claimed on on waivers last year by the Minnesota Wild um and no offense to either of those guys but they’re not vly Hana in terms of the upside the potential the pedigree my point being that if the Jets were to put villy hanala on waivers at any point next season uh there would be there would be a lineup of teams putting in a claim he he probably wouldn’t get past you know the number one or two claimer on the list at that particular time so he’s going to be with the Jets next season whether that’s in a role as as you know a top six guy regular or a bubble guy you know six7 um bit of a job share like we’ve seen in the past happen sometimes around here obviously you know that situation will play itself out injuries will be a big part of it one thing and and you mentioned hus that he didn’t play in the NHL last year course that broken angle in the last preseason game was was a Crusher for him but the Jets for all their injuries they had up front last year like it it’s remarkable how healthy they were on the blue line um they really were and the only way even guys like Logan Stanley you know got into the lineup were because they started healthy scratching like Nate Schmidt at times and of course look at a guy you know Kyle kappo biano who ended up being the ah defenseman of the year who had spent the entire previous season with the Jets he never got a sniff of the NHL last year either because the Jets were so healthy so you know obviously the Jets would would hope that that continues next season but what are the odds that the NHL team would go two straight years without you know really a scratch on their defenseman the only injury that happened on the blue line last year came to Brennan Dylan in what was that game four uh I think it was game four right in Denver with the um with the cut hand but so a picture of Health I fully expect we’re going to see you know what would be the over under I would say let’s set it at 40 games and I’ll take the over that Billy hanala will play more than 40 games AK more than half the season next year and you’re right about his contract hust like if he could there’s there’s a prime example for a guy that you hope could outperform that contract and it goes back to I think I mentioned this to you a few weeks ago something Kelly McMan said that really stuck with me talking about Vegas won the Stanley Cup and and how hard it is to kind of keep that together in the in the current salary cap era and he said that you need you need a number of players to outperform their contracts in order to win a cup uh and so a guy like vly hanala basically this is like an entry-level deal because it’s barely above the minimum that’s a really affordable Bridge deal for the Jets and an important piece of business to get taken care of they’ve only got two rfas left Simon lenmark is one of them I got to think that that’s that’s probably in the top you know drawer of Kevin shalf right now and they just haven’t filed the paperwork like there’s not going to be anything that that’s probably a league minimum deal for Simon lenmark obviously the big one is Cole Peretti and I suspect we’ll get into that a bit more this week C isn’t it interesting to see Quinton bfield signed that extension yesterday I think last week you and I talked about the Anton londelle extension and I said I wonder if that could be a potential model well now you can add Byfield to the list of a similar kind of age player on a trajectory that obviously the Kings have decided they don’t want to bridge him they’re going to reward him but it’s a deal that you know if Byfield continues the way he’s going to should age really really well for Los Angeles yeah well listen we’ll get to the Peretti and Byfield comparisons in just a second but before we move on from villy I’ll actually like if I’m setting that line I’m putting it above 40 I’m looking at you know 50 55 something like that like to actually be in the lineup obviously injuries can skew that but it does sort of look like and tell me if this sounds familiar a battle for the third pairing leftand defense uh position between vly hanel and Logan Stanley yeah mean is that a day now yeah we do have a new coach and Scott O’Neal uh with with an entirely new coaching staff so I I mean I think there is a caveat people often will just think and talk about these things as if it’s just continuation from last year which which isn’t the case and it’s important to note um but what do you make of that the fact that you know here we are again both of these players drafted later on in the first round yeah they’re now both in identical situations with two-e deals moving forward I’ve often said that some internal competition is actually a really good thing for a team um and you hope it brings out the best in both um I would just say this I think based on last year and again granted different coach but AR he was certainly part of that in those rooms the fact that it looked like Philly had made the team and was on that spot right at the beginning I think that maybe gives him a leg up at a certain point they have to be able to see what this young man can do he’ll never be more prepared than he’s been than he is right now he’s spent the time in the American Hockey League he’s had some tough setbacks Now’s the Time to see what he can do but I do Wonder just about that Ian it really does break down right now that unless something happens and you’re playing a guy on the opposite side you’ve got Colin Miller Neil pan is still here this probably looks like it’s a six s battle between the little guy and the big guy yeah I will say one thing Billy can do that say Logan Stanley I don’t believe he can do or has done is is play that o opposite side like villy has played the right side um with the Moose um but you’re right I mean you know here here’s the thing to me about villy Hana like you look at when he’s played in the NHL very few games obviously none last year um usually it’s where he’s had a stretch of really strong play in the A and then he’s been called up and then he gets a game or two and then that’s it and I think you know if youve watched his game in the NHL like it probably doesn’t translate as well as it should because this is a guy who probably knows that he only had a game or two to really show and maybe he tried to do too much the nerves what he hasn’t had H really is an extended period where he knew that you know even if he made a mistake or something that he had a bit of Runway to work with I think that changes this year and I do think that that should allow us to see probably the the the better potential of what this player can be at the NHL level and you know you look at the Jets and what did they what did they have trouble at times doing last year transitioning out of their own end moving the puck quickly and efficiently um what are things that vly hanel had does really well those exact things and you know Logan Stanley has some some attributes but those aren’t them like we’re talking about two very different players here it’s not like it’s two players that are kind of do the same thing and flip a coin like so depending on how Scott arneal wants to construct his lineup and maybe it’ll have to do with you know matchups who they’re playing um but I got to think that there’s a place for vly hanala as as an efficient Puck mover uh and and a really smooth skater and all the things we’ve seen him do the other thing hus like he was quarterbacking the Moose Power Play you look at the Jets now like Nate Schmidt’s gone and and there was a guy when Nate Schmidt was in theine L up last year he was often on that second pair often it was him and pan like I got to think there’s there’s a spot on the power play here as well what’s one of the things that the Jets a real weakness last season the power play like to me and Logan Stanley’s not going on the power play so I got to think that that’s another in for him as well hey just on that power play for a second um yeah I I here’s I’ll throw this out because I’ve been thinking about this more and more since the Miller signing yeah there’s a good chance that Billy hanel and Colin Miller will be that third pairing I could also see both of them being on the second powerp I mean I think Philly is a player that is probably best suited to somewhat quarterback it but the one thing that this team has missed ever since buffin and L left town on guy exactly with the guy with the cannon back there and and Miller is that guy and honestly I think if those players play together um it it probably gives them them a little bit more comfort with each other to potentially make that second unit a little bit more and I thought about that I wouldn’t reload either of those guys potentially playing together both on a pairing as well as on the second power play unit bring it back to villy I don’t think there’s any doubt if you want to get the most out of this player and put him in an opportunity to succeed in an area that had been somewhat of an Achilles heel for a very good hockey team through the regular season last year this is it and you know if he can play in the teens when it comes to minutes at five on five and contribute on the power play I mean this is um you know the potential for him to really hit the ground running and I think you know have a have a path to really succeed um and build on everything that he’s done to get to this point and finally get this shot as an everyday NHL assuming that he’s in the top six once the dust settles out of Camp yeah an interesting note about his contract uh it’s a oneway which means you know again I don’t expect he’s playing in the a at all next year it’s way by definition it is because if he’s probably byebye right it is interesting the number hus came in below his qualifying offer um like he could he would have made more money on his qualifying offer the problem is the qualifying offer was a two-way and so you know that that obviously explains why they did the deal that they did but I must admit I I thought his number would come in closer to a million um so you know we’re talking about nickel and Diamond here when it comes to the cap and the Jets are not they’re not cash strapped in the sense that they have to make sure every penny counts but I thought that was the number surprised me is what I’ll say it was a little lower than I thought and great for the Jets um you know Vil’s now got two years and and the Hope obviously from the Jets perspective is he’s a regular over these next two seasons and you know we’ll look back at this contract and say my goodness that they had this guy at 800,000 like that what a steal and then he’ll parlay that into something a lot more significant you know two summers from now that would be the the win-win for both the player and the team and we’ll see if he can do it yeah um but as I said he he’ll be a guy that will be getting a ton of attention come training camp and in the pre-season I think earlier on but I mean if he does anything close to what he was able to do last year um he’ll earn a spot again and uh all the fans if pH will finally get a chance to see him get a nice run in [Music]
Andrew “Hustler” Paterson and Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press discuss the Winnipeg Jets signing RFA Ville Heinola to a two-year contract extension and what his role might be on the team for the 2024-25 season. Originally streamed July 16, 2024.
Topics:
Reaction: Ville Heinola signs two-year contract (0:00)
Position battle with Logan Stanley (5:38)
More opportunity this season (7:37)
Possible pairing with Colin Miller (10:00)
Why the AAV was below the qualifying offer (11:25)
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